Two current College administrators will take on the additional responsibility of advising gay, lesbian and bisexual students and Latino and Hispanic students, Dean of the College Lee Pelton announced yesterday.
Assistant Director of Career Services Abraham Hunter will advise Latino and Hispanic students, and Assistant Coordinator of Peer Education Programs Bart Bingenheimer '94 will advise the gay, lesbian and bisexual community.
In a letter released yesterday to the College community, Pelton wrote that both Bingenheimer and Hunter will serve as part-time advisers to the groups.
Hunter's "duties will entail providing academic support to Latino/Hispanic students through advising, mentoring and programming."
La Alianza Latina President Ana Henderson '94 said she is happy with Hunter's selection.
"He has experience reaching out and working with different communities," she said. "He works with different students, not just one organization."
"It is not an Alianza adviser, it is a Latino and Hispanic adviser," she said. "This is a goal [La Alianza] has been working on for several years, but especially this year."
Henderson said students were not involved in the selection process.
Bingenheimer, who was co-chair of Dartmouth's gay, lesbian and bisexual student organization as an undergraduate, "will assist in planning and implementing programs to meet the needs of gay, lesbian and bisexual students and for enrichment of the wider community," Pelton wrote.
Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance co-Chair Earl Plante '94 said he is "ecstatic. It really shows the College really feels that gay students and their concerns are important."
Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance is the new name for the Dartmouth Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Organziation. According to a DRA press release, the organization voted to change its name because many members of the group felt DaGLO's name was not inclusive enough.
"DaGLO doesn't include bisexual and transgender people, and the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance symbolizes our commitment to working with our straight allies on campus," he said.
Plante said Pelton made the ultimate decision to select Bingenheimer as the adviser, but Pelton "got input from all areas."
"I think just like anything else it might take some time for people to get used to" the adviser, Plante said. "In the long run ... we'll all realize the importance of the position and really wonder why it took us this long."
Bingenheimer, Hunter and Pelton could not be reached for comment last night.
Both groups have been lobbying the administration for support for some time.
Susan Ackerman, co-convenor of the Coalition for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns said this past fall the issue of creating an administrator had received serious attention from the Dean of the College Office.
The attention came after the Board of Trustees voted to continue the College's Reserve Officers' Training Program last April, over objections that the program discriminated against homosexuals, Ackerman told The Dartmouth.
Last summer Pelton told The Dartmouth the College was looking into finding an adviser for Latino and Hispanic students.
